


avarice

by allechant



Category: Shall We Date?: Obey Me!
Genre: Character Study, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:28:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24418870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allechant/pseuds/allechant
Summary: was he greedy for wanting to own another person?
Relationships: Main Character/Mammon (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 136





	avarice

Love was a funny thing.

He’d think among all his brothers, Asmo would be the one who most understood love. The narcissistic fifth-born didn’t seem to have any problems fawning over himself.

But he knew that Asmo’s self-indulgence was empty; spoken words that did nothing but offer hollow promises. It had been so many, many years since they fell from the Celestial Realm. Maybe his brother missed his seat as the former Jewel of the Heavens.

Didn’t they all, in a way, long for the simpler days of their youth? He couldn’t quite remember what his past was like, though. Had he always been this way? Had he always felt this deep-seated urge to steal, to take, to swindle?

He whispered into the ears of unknowing sinners, pulling them by a cord into the haven of liars and thieves. Throughout the centuries, humans had fallen prey to his sin – greed for wealth, for power, for a better future.

It was human instinct to desire. Without greed, there was no impetus for improvement. But that same thirst for knowledge, for betterment, was also the very reason that mortals were banished from the Garden of Eden.

They were not supposed to dally with these humans any more than they had to. Angels and demons were concepts, ideas twisted into a physical form so that mortals could comprehend their meaning – in a way, they almost weren’t _real_.

So, this feeling that bloomed in his heart when he looked at her didn’t make sense at all. It was like the murmur that’d grip his chest when he saw an item left unguarded, almost begging him to reach out and claim it as his own.

But he was unused to this being directed at _someone_ rather than _something_. He wondered if this was his greed instructing him to keep an eye on what belonged to him. After all, he was her first demon. The first among the seven brothers to make a pact with her. In a way, that marked her as _his_ possession, so maybe that was why it felt so uncomfortable watching her interact with the rest of them.

Belongings should just stay in their place and wait quietly for their owner to return. They shouldn’t have any wills or thoughts of their own. They shouldn’t have a mind too inquisitive or a curiosity too insatiable for their own good. And they definitely shouldn’t be keeping him up at three in the morning, making him wonder about the differences between greed and love.

What was love if not a more complex form of greed? If he asked her, would she be able to give him the answer?

He sighed. She was only a human. What would she be able to tell _him_ , a demon who had existed for untold millennia? If he didn’t know the answer, she probably wouldn’t either. And he was uncomfortable with the idea of discussing his sin with anyone besides himself.

It was easier to let everyone think he was nothing more than greed personified. The same way it was easier for his brothers to all keep performing their roles, unquestioning and unquestionable. The moment they started doubting who they were and the meaning behind their existences, things got complicated.

The last thing he wanted to be was complicated.

Complicated was when he started butting in whenever the human spent a little too much alone time with any of his brothers. Complicated was when Asmo pulled him aside and told him to stop trying to mark his territory like a dog in heat. Complicated was when even Beel mentioned, in his offhand, oblivious way, that he was trying _way_ too hard to monopolise her attention.

He knew it himself. He didn’t need his brothers to point that out for him. And he hated it.

Maybe things would have been easier if this exchange programme never took place, and they could continue carrying out their duties as the seven princes of Hell. Why did they have to be all buddy-buddy with humans, anyway?

They were demons. They tempted people. They devoured souls and tortured sinners for the rest of eternity. They were not _friends_.

And yet he found himself doubting his feelings and the way he thought. He didn’t want to hurt her, reckless and naïve as she was. Mostly because Lucifer had threatened him with bodily injury if so much as a single hair on her head was harmed. But with time he had grown to care for her, even without the first-born’s directions.

Why did he care? Because she was his possession? Because he did have feelings for her, feelings that were _forbidden_ and unexplainable? None of them knew love, not really. Not even Asmo, who was the Avatar of Lust and arguably the most likely to understand what such an emotion entailed.

“Mammon?” He looked up at the sound of his name. She was walking into the kitchen, her hand covering her mouth as she yawned, and he closed the door of the fridge. He wasn’t sure why he bothered to look in there anyway. Beel had managed to clean out everything before he went to sleep.

“You’re up late.” So was he, but he was a demon. She wasn’t. Humans needed their sleep, didn’t they? They were mortal. And mortals were so much weaker, so much more fragile than he was.

He wasn’t sure what was worse, the thought that he could snap her like a twig if he wanted to, or knowing that if he _did_ love her he’d have to live with the fact that one day she’d pass on and leave him behind.

At least greed was a familiar face. Love? It was terrifying.

“I was thirsty.” She walked to the rack of dishes, grabbing her cup. It was pink with cartoon sheep drawn all over it – a gift from Belphie, the first of his many attempts to apologise for killing her.

One wouldn’t look at them now and think there was ever any bad blood between them. His lip curled at the thought. “Maybe you should keep a pitcher in your room or something. Then you won’t have to keep coming down to the kitchen.”

“That’s a good idea,” she hummed, her voice still slightly drowsy from sleep. “Thanks, Mammon. I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Hey.” His mouth moved before he could stop himself. “What do you think love is? Like…well, you’re human, right? And love is one of those big things ya humans are always talking about. What’s so great about it?”

She paused. The only sound in the kitchen was that of water pouring from the kettle. She was the only one in the House of Lamentation who boiled water before she drank it. They’d told her that it was unnecessary, that the water was magicked to ensure that it was safe for human consumption. But still, she continued to do so.

 _Old habits die hard_ , she explained. _And doing this reminds me of home_.

“I guess love isn’t something demons would think about, huh?” she finally said, putting the kettle down. “What with you being immortal beings and everything.”

He shrugged. The less he said, the better. He didn’t want her thinking he had gone soft, or that he was feeling sentimental, or that he was _in love_ with her. He wasn’t. Or at least, he didn’t think he was.

“Love is one of those things movies have conditioned us to view as the ultimate goal, I think. But they’re not exactly wrong.” She took a sip from her sheep-covered cup. He always wondered why Belphie chose that particular design. “I think love really can motivate people to do great things. Look at all those stories of human mothers who have fought bears or moved cars to save their children.”

“Hmm.” He considered. “Have you fallen in love before?”

“I love my family and friends. And all of you. You’re my friends,” she answered, peeking at him over the edge of her cup. She was avoiding his question.

He let it go. It was late. He was tired, and for once, he wasn’t in the mood to be his usual persistent self. “You should go back to bed. If you get up late Lucifer will kill me.”

She nodded. “You too, Mammon.” She finished her water and rinsed her cup in the sink, placing it back on the rack.

He sighed and closed his eyes. It had been a long night. He simply couldn’t get to sleep – it would have been tempting to ask Belphie for help, but for some reason, after seeing her drink from the cup the seventh-born gave her, he just wasn’t in the mood to talk to his younger brother.

Anyway, Belphie wouldn’t appreciate being woken up in the middle of the night. He had done so enough times to know that would be a mistake.

“Let’s go back to our rooms.” She reached for him, taking his hand. Her fingers were warm, and he wondered why he didn’t immediately pull away. “I don’t know what you’re thinking about, but you have to get some rest too.”

He allowed her, the weak, fragile human that made her home in a den of wolves, to pull him up the stairs and back to his door. She stayed and waited until he let himself back into his room, smiling at him as she waved goodbye.

He closed the door behind her, not wanting to remember the look on her face.

Things were so much easier when he was just Mammon, the Avatar of Greed. Being a demon meant not having to think about anything beyond his scope of work. Mortals were greedy – they didn’t mind upsetting the balance of the world if it meant that they would benefit, and he was tired of listening to their wishes.

But maybe, just maybe, she was the one mortal he didn’t mind putting up with.

**Author's Note:**

> got prompted on tumblr for this
> 
> yell at me on [twitter](https://mobile.twitter.com/dontenchantme)


End file.
